Aerosmith delivers the intensity at Mansfield show

Thursday

Jul 17, 2014 at 6:30 AMJul 18, 2014 at 3:55 PM

Aerosmith, all its members in their sixth decade by now, delivered a typically exhaustive and full bore one hour and 45 minutes of their hard rocking intensity Wednesday night before a sold-out crowd of 20,000 at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield.

In all of their travels, tours, stumbles and reboots, somewhere Aerosmith must have waded through the fountain of youth.

The iconic Boston band, all its members in their sixth decade by now, delivered a typically exhaustive and full bore one hour and 45 minutes of their hard rocking intensity Wednesday night before a sold-out crowd of 20,000 at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield.

If Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, and the rest of the bad boys from Beantown took any shortcuts, it wasn't obvious Wednesday night during a 19-song set that had some surprises. And to answer the big question on every hard rock fan's mind, there was indeed a jam with Slash, as the former Guns 'N' Roses guitarist joined Aerosmith for a torrid sprint through "Mama Kin."

Of course, many fans were probably getting a quick start on the exits by the time the band, right up against the 11 p.m. curfew, did a quick "Train Kept A-Rollin'" with another extra guitarist, perhaps the only man who might--and we emphasize might--elicit more female squeals than Tyler, a shy retiring type named Johnny Depp.

Last night was only the third stop on this current tour, and Aerosmith was about fifteen minutes late for their scheduled 9 p.m. start. That seemed to require some setlist adjustments, and there was a funny moment when the band seemed ready to launch into a tune, and Tyler halted them, mentioned the curfew, and told them he wanted to go right into "Dude Looks Like A Lady." Since the guitarists were changing axes for almost every song, that precipitated some frantic scrambling as stagehands rushed out with the proper instruments. "(Bleepin) guitarists!" Tyler laughed.

Aerosmith played on a stage with a huge video screen backdrop, along with a catwalk which led to a smaller square stage 18-20 rows deep into the crowd. The many video cameras around the stage were enhanced by a cameraman who followed Tyler and Perry wherever they went. Tyler started the night in a floor-length white coat, with a naked woman etched on the back, but soon shed it to reveal his tank top, which echoed the body painting on his arms and shoulders. Perry had a more elegant look, in black shiny coat and pants, with a black felt hat sporting a bright red band, over a red tank top.

A rip-roaring "Back in the Saddle" opened the show, and closeups showed that Tyler is growing a goatee as he strutted to the end of the catwalk, high-fiving fans. The set list treasures started popping up early, as the second tune was 1993's "Eat the Rich," a blistering hard-rock commentary which was punctuated by Tyler's loud burp at the end.

"Love in an Elevator" featured the first of many guitar showcases, as Brad Whitford and Perry traded incendiary lines, and tour keyboardist Buck Johnson added solid piano lines. The funniest part of "Cryin'," an emotional ballad with a stellar Tyler vocal, was seeing the band's original '70s-vintage video playing on the big screen behind the 2014 incarnations. Tyler also killed it on the strenuous vocal to "Livin' On the Edge," proving his tv career hasn't let his pipes go to rust. The night's most pulverizing rocker was "Monkey on My Back," a deep cut from 1989's "Pump" album.

Fans might've felt Aerosmith was forging a new career as prog-rockers with the dense but intriguing arrangement for "Kings and Queens," from way back in 1977. But then a blitz through "Toys in the Attic" and a wailing romp through "Rag Doll" brought the frenzy back.

Tyler went offstage, while Perry sang and played his tune "Freedom Fighter," with its topical message, from their 2012 CD, "Music From Another Dimension." Lyrics were helpfully posted on the videos screens, and it's an interesting tune, but Perry is not a vocalist on a par with Tyler. "That song sucked," Perry said at the end, "I couldn't find my key." Perry more than redeemed himself with "Stop Messin' Around," the Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac cover, delivered as muscular blues-rock, with Tyler back to add harmonica,.

After that scorching Slash appearance, the quintet reached back to 1976 for "Rats in the Cellar," which included elongated guitar solos from Perry and Whitford, and many dynamic shifts--interesting but just too long. The big sweeping dynamics of "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" was a swing-and-sway classic, if always a stylistic detour, but "Dude" got things rolling again.

Tyler, Perry, Whitford and bassist Tom Hamilton all strode out to the catwalk-stage for a charge through "Walk This Way," as tireless drummer Joey Kramer kept the engine burning. Tyler did "Dream On" at his white piano for the first encore, and then blazed his way through a kinetic "Sweet Emotion."

Slash's hour-long opening set with Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators was unrelentingly visceral pop-metal, although his finger-picking on "Anastasia" on a double-necked guitar was a terrific change of pace. Slash and the quintet did three Guns 'N Roses covers in their 11-song set, and "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "Paradise City" proved that Kennedy is every bit as compelling a singer as Axl Rose (with the added benefit that he actually shows up on time).

Note: judging from the tour's previous two stops, the song or songs probably trimmed from the setlist to make curfew likely included "Same Old Song & Dance," and/or "No More No More."